A
local Friday night up the hill… and after finally catching a full set from
diverse indie rockers Abstraction Engine at the recent postponed Swindon
Shuffle, after promising to do so for so long, here’s another chance! You wait
hours for a bus then a couple come trundling along in short order… and after
finally (hopefully) putting a couple of odd health issues behind me, I’m now
well up for making up for lost time, gig-wise!
So,
despite feeling a bit wiped out after a hospital procedure yesterday (sedation
still working its’ way through my system and all), I hauled my sorry ass off
the sofa about 8.30 and drove up the hill, jumping into a parking spot in the
busy GWR car park opposite just as someone was leaving, and wandering through
the suspiciously quiet Vic – is this Swindon Friday night, or what? The back
room was totally deserted, but the Abstraction boys were taking a break by the
load-in door, so I joined them and caught up with this friendly and affable
bunch of gents, generally veterans of various bands in the past (particularly
vocalist David Moore, who revealed he used to play in bands around his native
Manchester in the 80’s, supporting the likes of Puressence and The Loft!),
which gave them a bit of perspective about a prospective quiet turnout tonight.
Enjoyed some rock chat to while away the time gap created by the non-appearance
of a scheduled support (they just didn’t turn up!!), before the boys decided to
go on about 9.45, hoping that attendance would improve when the Vic barflys
heard some sounds emanating from the back room. It worked, actually, and a
smattering of folks joined me as Abstraction Engine kicked off their set at 10
to 10.
The
Abstraction Engine sound is definitely rooted in indie guitar rock, but
thereafter all bets are off; having played music through various genre trends
gives them a Magpie sensibility to their songwriting approach, taking a bit of
moody atmospherics from here, a bit more strident riffery from there, making
them difficult to pigeonhole overall. A constant feature, however, is the
strength of the hooks and choruses, endemic through their material like seaside
town names through a stick of rock. Thus buoyant opener “Hollow Heart”, with
its’ “C’mon c’mon” repetitive bridge, was an early call to arms, “Crossfire”
was an echo-heavy strident anthem with some impressive mid-song drum fills, and
after “Placeholder” featured some more considered, almost C86-esque jangle
before an unexpected change of pace, a dynamic “Willing Slave” continued the
earlier, harder edged approach with a dark, almost snarling dynamism, prompting
guitarist Gareth to comment to David, “if you play the next one that fast I’m fucked!”
A
more introspective set mid-section followed, the slower burn, languid post-grunge
Promise Ring dynamics of “Forever” a feature, before the proto new wave riffery
of “If Looks Could Kill” (purporting to be a love song but featuring a bratty,
“what the hell is wrong with you tonight?” hook) led into a well-observed
“Victoria” – a cover version of a cover version, as David’s delivery was
definitely more Mark Smith than Ray Davies! Then finally, the deliciously
meandering “Shiine”, all absorbing and layered, itself led into a superb and
lengthy rendition of Stereolab’s 90’s metronomic indie dance classic “French
Disko”, which got me recalling those 90’s Level 3 indie days and shaking a leg
down the front. A splendid way to conclude another fascinating and varied set
from these indie chameleons, this time with extra added dynamism. A shame so
few people were there to witness it, the attendance varying between one and two
dozen throughout. No matter, I enjoyed it, and so did the band…
A
quick chat with the boys before I turned in after a fine set. I’m glad I made
the effort to haul my ass off the sofa, as I’m left with the increasing thought
that, following the sad demise of Raze*Rebuild a couple of years ago, I may
just have found my new favourite local band…!
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